1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates generally to safe rooms, and more specifically, to a safe room configured to protect persons and property against dangerous weather conditions.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional safe rooms and/or shelters are well known in the art for effectively protecting persons and property from dangerous storm conditions such as hurricanes and tornadoes, which can reach wind speeds over 250 mph and are capable of staying on the ground for over one hour. The dangerous weather conditions can easily cause mass destruction with flying debris, resulting in significant damage to property, and in some cases, physical injury. Thus, homeowners who choose not or cannot evacuate their homes during the extreme weather conditions are forced to take cover in a protected area of the home. It should be understood that the homes provide relatively little protection, which are typically not constructed to withstand tornado or hurricane weather conditions. As such, there is a need for each home to have a safe room that can withstand the extreme weather conditions.
Safe rooms are typically buried underground to further increase safety. These types of shelters have limitations, including the manufacturing cost and risk of being trapped underground with overhead debris blocking access. Further, the underground structures are typically not accessible to the handicapped and elderly. Also, some properties are not well suited for underground construction. As a result, the safe rooms are configured for aboveground placement. However, the underground safe rooms are cost prohibitive to most families, thereby making these types of shelters ineffective.
Although the foregoing developments in shelters represent great strides, many shortcomings remain.
While the safe room assembly and method of manufacturing and use is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the process of the present application as defined by the appended claims.